


Retrace

by winterhats



Series: The Wonderful Today [2]
Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Family, Gen, Next Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-05
Updated: 2019-06-05
Packaged: 2020-04-08 03:54:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19099240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winterhats/pseuds/winterhats
Summary: Kokonose Konoha is a happy twelve year old boy who likes to chase bugs and eat yummy food. His best friend, Seto Shion, enjoys ruining his weekends.(Next gen fic. Haruka and Takane's son and Seto and Mary's daughter team up to discover secrets of the past).





	Retrace

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is it, this is the single most self indulgent fic I have EVER written. I don't know who is even into next generation fics anymore, but... either way, have this one.
> 
> Ah, and needles to say, this is set in the same universe as my "What's new?" series!

The place is familiar, and there are voices he instantly recognizes.

Konoha, wrinkling his nose, swallows the soda he was apparently drinking. Looking down, he sees he's indeed holding a can. Ah, weird. When did he even pick this up?

The voices are laughing and chatting. He quickly recognizes all of them, especially because the owners are right in front of his eyes. They're his family, after all.

There's Kano laughing, which is unmistakable, while Kido angrily storms back into the kitchen after yelling at him. Seto, after having attempted to calm Kido down, was happily listening to Mary speak about flowers over the loud voices of Momo and Hibiya screaming while they played videogames.

Konoha blinks at them, unsure. What is he doing here? Why does everyone look so weird and different but at the same time... not different or weird at all?

It was making his head start to spin already, and the sip of soda he just took was beginning to make him feel nauseous.

"Konoha?"

He immediately looks at the direction his name was said, finding the smiling face of someone he knows very well. Yes, he knows this person, but... again, it's weird.

"I know it's kinda like, your thing, to look into the void and stuff, but..." the boy started. He looks like he's about eighteen or seventeen, which was a bizarre thought for Konoha. He sees this person so often, but not as a teenager. "...You look especially lost right now. Something the matter?"

He's watching him expectantly, concern visible on his face, but Konoha can only frown. "Uh..."

His train of thought (if he had any) is interrupted by a bubbly, kind of muffled voice, as if the person had been speaking through a phonecall.

Instinctively, he looks down, since that's where the voice came from, and finds that the hand that hasn't been holding the can of soda is holding a phone. A girl was frowning at him inside of it, but it wasn't like he was on a phonecall at all.

Nope, it was a floating girl inside the phone.

"Jeez, Mr. impostor. You're a real charmer," the girl said, rolling her eyes. She was hiding behind an app. "You annoyed master for like an entire hour to let you borrow his phone and so far you've just stared at nothing with that dumb face of yours! Gah, I never thought I'd say this, but I wanna go back to master!"

The boy rolls his eyes as well, taking a sip of his own soda. "Shut up, Ene," he just says, and Konoha can only feel even more confusion. "Anyway, Konoha, are you okay or not?"

Konoha, despite having made no intention of speaking, feels himself say words he didn't think of, "Yes, I'm okay, Shintaro."

(...)

He wakes up rather startled, but as usual, he does not remember what had startled him.

Probably his dream, but it's not like he remembers that either.

Konoha straightens up, yawning, and grabs his phone from the bedside table to check the time. Ah, it was barely 8 AM. It's saturday, so usually, Konoha would turn over and go back to sleep, but the smell of eggs cooking is quick to make his stomach grumble and wake him up.

Hmm, well, he went to bed rather early, and it wasn't like he couldn't get up for breakfast and then just come back here afterwards. Wouldn't be the first time he does it, anyway.

So with that plan in mind, Konoha gets up from bed and puts his slippers on. He makes his way downstairs after using the bathroom, his mind only going "yum, yum, yum" as the smell of breakfast got stronger.

He walks into the kitchen, immediately welcomed by food on the table. There were four servings, so it was apparent to him his parents knew the smell of food would wake him up as well. Ah, apparently it was more usual than he thought, then.

"Oh, Konoha!" his father, Kokonose Haruka, turns around from the oven to greet him, chirpy as ever. He was putting away the things he used for cooking, wearing the silly cat themed apron Konoha and his big sister got him for father's day. "Good morning!"

He spoke as if it hadn't been awfully early in the morning, but that wasn't weird coming from his dad.

"Morning," he nodded back, sitting in his usual spot at the kitchen table. He has a bigger serving than his mommy or his sister, but not as big as his dad's. Konoha looks at the person sitting across from him, and smiles, "Morning, mommy."

His mother, Kokonose Takane, looks away from her phone to warmly smile at him, "Morning. How did you sleep?"

She was wearing her work uniform, so Konoha quickly remembers she has a shift on saturdays. What a bummer. He loves when mommy is home...

Hey, but that means she has the night free, so she'll be home for dinner!

Konoha absolutely loves his mommy. His dad is okay too, he's really great, but his mommy is... his entire world, basically. She just manages to be that amazing. His day is instantly made from simply seeing her.

"I slept well," he says, not seeing any need in mentioning that he had a weird dream, since he doesn't even remember how said dream was like. He always has the unmemorable weird dreams, anyway. Before he could ask the question back to her though, Takane speaks,

"Haruka, you made way too much food," she complained, tiredly looking at her food. "Again."

"Ehh? I just want my family to start the day well fed!" he defended himself, finally sitting next to her to begin eating. "If you have any leftovers, I'll make the sacrifice of eating them for you, I don't mind."

"Ah, and I'd help," Konoha's quick to add. His mother just rolls her eyes,

"Hm, yeah, no doubt there," she sighed, grabbing her cup of coffee to take a sip. However, she stops midway, "Wait, where's Fuyuha? I thought she had practice today."

Haruka blinks at her, and was about to speak when heavy foosteps started to make the ceiling rattle. Someone was going down the stairs, _fast._

Conveniently, his sister Kokonose Fuyuha suddenly shows up at the kitchen door, clearly having rushed all the way down here. She was wearing her sport gear, her bag hanging from her shoulder, because just like Takane had mentioned, she had training on saturday mornings.

She was on a rush, obviously, but as soon as her family's attention is all on her, Fuyuha tries to play it cool by leaning against the door frame in a supposedly comfortable position, "Morning, everyone!"

"Morning!" Konoha and Haruka both answer with a happy tone, but Takane seemed a little more unsure.

"Yeah, morning," she raised an eyebrow. Fuyuha also seemed specifically interested in her mom, because she soon approaches her, clearly nervous,

"Mom! You look so beautiful this morning," she told her, and Takane sighed. "So young and pretty. Don't you think so, dad?"

"Yes, always!" Haruka gladly said, putting an arm around his wife to push her closer to him and kiss her head. However, Takane cuts to the chase,

"What do you need, Fuyuha?"

"I OVERSLEPT!" Fuyuha immediately bends over, and Konoha thought it was quite funny to see his really tall sister bowing to their very, very short mother. "Mom, please drive me to school!"

"Ah, it's always the same with you!" Takane immediately went off. Fuyuha winced at the very anticipated nag. "This is like the third week in a row you're asking me to drive you! I'm trying to have a quiet breakfast with your father and your brother but no, now I gotta rush to take you to school, huh?"

"I – I'm really sorry~" Fuyuha locked her hands together, making those puppy eyes she knew made her mother weak. "I'll be up on time next time! I promise!"

Takane sighed again, because the power of the puppy eyes just has that effect on her; Konoha, his sister and his father really have a lot of power over her because of them.

As she tried to quickly finish her coffee, Haruka spoke, "Don't worry, Fuyu~ It might look like mom's being hard on you, but when she was your age she was late to school every single day!"

The woman chokes on her coffee, quickly hissing at her husband to shut him up, "HEY! THAT WAS DIFFERENT! She made this commitment to the track and field club to go training on saturdays, while _I_ had no commitments and I was a narcoleptic teenager. Don't justify her irresponsibility!"

Haruka did shut up, but his smile didn't move. Konoha just ate his scrambled eggs.

Soon, however, his mother was getting up, and as Fuyuha jumped in excitement and exclamations of "YAY! You're the best, mommy!", Haruka seemed a little worried, "Wait! Fuyu, are you going without eating anything? You'll get sick if you do sport without eating anything first!"

That made Konoha wonder just how much did his dad know about sports, because it really didn't sound that correct. If anything, he thinks it's more possible to get sick from eating a big meal before running.

Then again, he knows nothing about sports either.

"Konoha can have my breakfast, I'll eat lunch later!" Fuyuha said, already out of the kitchen. Konoha smiles gladly, while his father just sighed. Fuyuha was a lot like mommy, huh. She just loved trash food and was indifferent to any other kind of food. Konoha and Haruka, however, just enjoy any kind of food. Always and anywhere.

As Takane was taking her glorious time, Fuyuha quickly calls her out,

"Hurry, mom!"

"Don't you hurry me or I'll make you run to school," she tells her, leaning in to quickly peck Haruka. "See you later."

His father nods, lovesick as ever, and Konoha soon feels his mother's hand patting his head.

"You too, Konoha!"

"Have a good day!" both he and Haruka call after her, listening to the panicked Fuyuha still hurrying her and Takane paying little to no attention to her. Soon, the front door closes, and Konoha is left with only his father. He smiles at him.

"Big sis' leftovers are mine by law," Konoha says, "She said so."

"Fair," Haruka agreed, "I call dibs on mom's, though."

"Okay," Konoha nodded. That sounded like a plan, so he continued eating in silence. But his father is quick to try and bring up a conversation.

"So, do you have anything planned for today?"

Konoha shrugs, "I'll nap."

"So you got up fifteen minutes ago and you're already planning a nap?"

"Yes," he says, and his father laughs. "Ah, maybe take a walk. See if I find cool bugs."

"O – oh," Haruka nervously answers, clearing his throat. "Yeah, well, if you do that, please don't bring them to the house. You know you... you could lose them like... um, last time."

He almost shivered at the mention of "last time". Konoha himself also winces.

"Last time" was when Konoha had made friends with a cockroach, whom he had lovingly named Negima. She was very big for her species and she was a very pretty lady, full of potential and Konoha absolutely adored her and was determined to keep her as his pet. He doubts anyone else would take care of her the same as he would, and she was a really special girl, so he decided he was the one for the job.

But, alas, when he brought her to the house she somehow managed to get away from him. And his father is a poor ignorant soul who doesn't know about the good things in life because, well, he hates bugs. That is to say, Haruka was absolutely losing his mind. Konoha has never seen his father more freaked out than that day.

After the disaster had ended, Fuyuha came out of her room with her headphones on asking if it was her imagination or if someone had been screaming. Both Konoha and their father had been screaming.

Haruka, on his part, screamed because it turned out the cockroach could fly and on Konoha's part, he screamed because Takane eventually found the bug and he had to watch his beloved mother murder Negima.

Basically, it was a bad day for everyone. (Except Fuyuha. She was cool). At least his parents agreed to let him have a funeral for her, though.

"Yes, dad, don't worry," Konoha answers, which makes his father send a grateful smile his way, but doesn't push the conversation any further.

Konoha loves spending time with his dad. He always respects that Konoha likes silence, and when he's eating he can only focus on eating. It's not that he doesn't like talking to people, it's just that he can't focus on both listening to someone _and_ eating. That way, he just can't pay attention to his delicious food and he can't enjoy it fully, and that's a tragedy in itself.

But then his phone buzzes, the screen lighting up and showing him it's a message from a certain someone. Konoha suddenly feels like he might have something else to do aside from napping after all.

_**[Seto Shion, 8:26 AM]** We're meeting today for urgent, private, ULTRA SECRET investigation! Your presence is key. At 1500 hours sharp, don't be late!_

He can almost hear Shion's soft but demanding voice as he reads the text.

Either way, Konoha has no choice but keep up the conversation with his father, "Ah, actually, I'm meeting with Shion today."

Haruka's obviously familiar with the girl he's talking about, so he doesn't need to ask about her, "Oh, I see. And what are you guys doing?"

Konoha tries to think of an answer, but Shion's text wasn't very... clear. But when is she _ever_  clear, really. He shrugs, and simply says, "It's a secret."

Haruka's still smiling, but at the answer, he grimaces a little, "Oh, um. Well, Konoha, not to be a party pooper, but... am I supposed to allow you to go to a place I don't even know where it is?"

Konoha looks up, humming, "Yeah, that does sound bad."

"Yeah," Haruka laughs, so Konoha grabs his phone to ask Shion about this. And also what does 1500 hours mean; Shion and Konoha have been friends for their entire lives now, but he still doesn't understand why she says the time like that.

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 8:27 AM]** wat is 15000 hours_

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 8:27 AM]** also my.dad asks where are we gong_

_**[Seto Shion, 8:27 AM]** It's 1500, just two zeros. And that'd be 3 PM, Konoha. Tell your dad we're going to the movies._

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 8:28 AM]** oh yay what are we watching? :D_

_**[Seto Shion, 8:28 AM]** We aren't actually going!_

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 8:28 AM]** im not liying to mt dad shion :/_

_**[Seto Shion, 8:28 AM]** Fine, I was joking. We are going to the movies. The movie is a surprise. Let's meet at the theater._

"We're going to the movies," Konoha smiles, looking up from his phone. He finds himself looking forward to this now.

Haruka smiles at him, more content at this solid answer, "Ah, okay. That sounds like fun~ What are you watching?"

"She says it's a surprise," he says, even more excited. Aw, shucks. Shion is such a cool friend!

His father looked a little iffy, but doesn't doubt him again, "Okay, well, I'll give you money later, alright?"

Konoha smiles, "Thanks!"

He can't wait to eat loads and loads of popcorn! What a nice saturday this is going to be.

* * *

 

Turns out to be quite a whacky saturday.

However, Konoha doesn't know that when he excitedly meets with Shion at the movie theater.

"All you can eat popcorn!" is the first thing he says to her, as she turned to him with a tired face.

"We aren't actually going to see a movie, Konoha," Shion says, and future Konoha would say that this is when his saturday started to go downhill; present Konoha, however, despite having been disappointed, didn't know that yet.

"Oh..." Konoha goes, pouting, "But what about the surprise?"

"There was no surprise, dummy," she told him. "I just said that so you'd lie to your dad."

Konoha instantly gasps, offended. But this was a classical Shion move right there.

After all, his childhood best friend (and just best friend in general) Seto Shion is a very interesting girl.

Aside from being obsessed with crime movies and just any kind of book to come her way, she's one cranky girl. Konoha always wonders why; her parents, his uncle Seto and auntie Mary, are very sweet in all aspects. Her little sister Hana is very sweet as well, despite how quiet she could be. Shion, however, dramatically refers to herself as the black sheep of the family.

(Which makes Konoha giggle, because if anything, she looks like a white sheep since her hair is fluffy and white. But when he said that Shion got mad).

But even if Shion is grumpy and sometimes says hurtful things, Konoha knows she doesn't mean it when she's rude. She's just really shy, and since they're so close, he knows how nice and thoughtful she actually is. He really likes how passionate she gets when she talks about the things she likes, and he also knows that she secretly writes novels, but that's a secret, so don't tell anyone.

However, right now he was kind of freaking out, "B – but Shion! That's horrible! My dad's nice and he makes scrambled eggs for me!"

The girl just laughs, "Ah, he'll get over it. Besides, that's exactly why I needed you along today. We're gonna investigate this extense story, and today we are covering your parents' side!"

Konoha just blinks at her. Friends and couples walked in and out of the theater, like normal kids would on a saturday afternoon. But no. He was stuck in Shion's mystery game again.

Because Shion also just so happens to be absolutely obsessed with some "family secret" her mother has.

"Now, let's go!" Shion points to the direction they'd be heading, but Konoha is glued to the ground. As he doesn't follow, she turns around to check on him, "Konoha?"

He pouts, and Shion sighs.

(...)

As Konoha happily ate popcorn, walking alongside Shion, he picks up where they left off, "So my parents are also involved in the whole _red eyes_ thing?"

She says there's something "supernatural" going on with her mother, and as of lately, that has extended to her father and his siblings, uncle Shintaro, auntie Momo, uncle Hibiya and apparently, now Konoha's parents Haruka and Takane.

"Why are you saying it like it's a burden!" Shion says, offended. Despite being three months older than him, she has been the same height ever since the fifth grade, while Konoha himself is pretty tall for his age, and already is a few inches taller than his mother Takane (which angered her spectacularly). So needless to say, he has to look down at Shion when she speaks, "It's true! Everyone has red eyes and I'll prove it!"

"You just saw your mom with red eyes once, though..." Konoha mumbles, smiling nervously and trying to keep her calm. "I – I just don't get how you seeing that once relates to everyone else or the "family secret", really."

 _And it just could've been your imagination,_  he thinks, but doesn't say, simply putting another handful of popcorn in his mouth.

" _That is_  the family secret, keep up, Konoha," Shion tells him, grabbing a popcorn for herself. "And it was three times, not once. Twice my mom and once uncle Shuuya."

"Ah, uncle Kano has red eyes too..." Konoha nods. Seriously, it's not like he minds tagging along with Shion during her "investigations" but it being about his parents made him a little iffy. His mommy and dad are really the most normal people there could ever be. "Okay, Shion, you know I'd usually think that's really cool and all but... how do my parents have anything to do with this?"

Because alright, he does agree there's a mystery, especially since Shion's mother Mary has admitted it herself. Thanks to this whole thing, Shion has a strained relationship with her, and they're prone to fights since Mary refuses to say anything, and that alone makes Shion even more determined to keep digging.

Konoha, however, feels a little awkward being a part of this after Shion talked to him about the last fight she had with her mom, where Mary told her "it doesn't concern her." He was all in for a fun mystery to solve, especially if it's with his dearest friend in the world, but if it was making auntie Mary this upset...

"That's what I've been wondering too!" Shion started, excitedly. She was always overjoyed to share her discoveries. "Because you know how everyone has known each other since a while, and they call themselves the "Mekakushi Dan", right?"

"Ehhh, no?" Konoha goes. "What is the Mekadan?"

" _Mekakushi Dan,_ " Shion sighs, "Do you even listen to me when I speak? I found out about the Mekakushi Dan months ago. It was like, a secret group everyone was part of. Mom had no issue explaining to me that's how she met dad and the rest, listing to me which number everyone was, but she got nervous when I asked her what did they do."

Konoha speaks with his mouth full, "Ohhhh... was that when you had the drug dealers theory?"

"Yeah," Shion frowns, embarrassed of her own past words. "But that theory was scratched rather quickly, thankfully. It's just that _secret group_  sounds so fishy!"

Konoha laughed, but Shion carried on,

"So! That was the first time I had to add your parents to the investigation! Because my mom had mentioned them, your mom as the member number six and your dad as number nine."

"Ohhh," Konoha nods. "I don't get it."

"Well, me neither, actually," she said, putting a finger on her chin. "You know how... I know lots of random things but not concrete reasons as to why they happened? Like, I know my mom used to live by herself in the forest but I have no idea why. I know I'm named after my grandmother, but there are no pictures of her anywhere. Heck, I know uncle Shintaro and my parents and everyone stopped a terrorist attack in a mall once! How is that not relevant, ever!"

Konoha chokes with a popcorn, "My parents too!?"

"Eh, no–" Shion smiles awkwardly. "That's the thing. I know so many of these things with no answers and that in itself is a mystery but... your parents... I know _nothing_ about them in the first place. Only what numbers they were in the Mekakushi Dan."

There's when Shion stops walking for a second, leaning in towards him. Konoha also stops, awkwardly staring at her as she says,

"That's why your presence is key, Konoha. I need you to tell me your opinion on what I found."

She leans away again, smirking, and Konoha gulps. "I'm always with you when you investigate, though."

"Wh – whatever! That was more like you being my Watson. It's different right now."

"Who is Watson," he asks, but it just makes Shion roll her eyes. Konoha decides to come back to the original subject, trying to make sense of what she was telling him, "W – well, maybe my parents weren't involved in the crazy stuff you think of, and they met everyone afterwards?"

"No!" she immediately says, startling a couple passing by. She seems embarrassed for a second, so she rushes to look like she didn't care. "B – because the numbers everyone has are assigned by arrival order! And uncle Shintaro is number seven and he was there when the mall thing happened. Your mom is _six_ so she was already part of the Mekakushi Dan by then."

"Oh... well, that... actually makes sense."

"It does, doesn't it?" she smugly crossed her arms. "And like, didn't your parents start dating in highschool? Why did they not enter the Mekakushi Dan at the same time, hm? Their numbers aren't one right after the other, after all... And as more questions were raised, it just got unbearable when I went to uncle Shuuya's place!"

Konoha doesn't need to ask why it was specifically uncle Kano, because he already knows via Shion and tagging along "interrogations" that Kano is the person to most likely say something about this. He is how Shion even started to pay most attention to the "red eyes" thing. Kano had asked her to please avoid mentioning to her parents the things he's said.

But, of course, Shion didn't listen and immediately went to have yet another fight with her mother. Konoha, on his part, forgot about most of the stuff he talked about.

However, he does need to ask what does uncle Kano have to do with rising questions about his parents.

"Because uncle Kano has all the pictures. Of everything," Shion says, apparently reading his mind. "You know, the family pictures of him, my dad and auntie Tsubomi, as well as all the pictures the Mekakushi Dan's hideout... hmph, who do you think mentioned the name of the Mekakushi Dan on the first place?"

Before Konoha could answer, Shion keeps talking,

"And he has sooo many. My grandparents just loved taking pictures, I guess," Shion said, and Konoha catches how dejected she sounded for a second. That was weird, seeing how she hasn't met her grandparents from either side of her family. "And, well, I've been going through the photo albums for a while now, and I was always weirded out about your dad in the Mekakushi Dan pictures."

"My dad?"

"Yeah, he looks like he's cosplaying or something in most of them."

" _What._ "

"Yeah, I know!" Shion exclaimed, smiling and skipping a little. She was overjoyed Konoha seemed to show so much interest. "And seeing older ones I just got even _more_ confused. Just wait until you see!"

She was excited to the point she started walking faster than him, letting Konoha appreciate her outfit for the day.

Now, his friend Shion is what many may consider a "fashion disaster". Konoha himself wasn't very stylish, to be honest. He didn't actually care that much about it, and really only owns a bunch of different hoodies and jeans in a variety of colors. It was because he overheard a few girls talking about Shion at school, about how rude and messy she was, that he even realized she didn't dress conventionally well.

Right now, she was wearing a typical soft colored dress of hers. She always wears those. Konoha thinks they are very cute, and he's sure most people do, but what he didn't know is that the things Shion pairs her dresses with weren't very flattering.

Along with the soft pink dress that had a nice pattern of cherry blossom flowers in its skirt, she wore a ratty old brown jacket. It used to belong to her dad, so it was absolutely massive on her and it had stains of white paint, courtesy of some random part time job her dad used to have.

To go with that, she had cute, light blue backpack. And as soon as her beautiful cherry blossom dress ended at her knees, her oversized socks started. One was white and the other one was also white, but with a red stripe at the top, clearly showing it wasn't a match. Her boots were– also tragic, really. Even Konoha didn't really like them. They were brown, had yellow shoelaces, and just looked really old and bigger than Shion's feet.

And her hair– well, Konoha likes Shion's hair. It's white and fluffy, just like her mom's, and that was already amazing because aunt Mary's hair is like big cotton candy. Shion hates it when Konoha touches her hair, though. She gets embarrrassed and tells him to stop being creepy.

Shion's hair is long, but not as much as her mom's. It reaches her mid back, and it's always– um, well, a mess. A tragic mess.

When they were little and Konoha would go to Shion's house to play with her, aunt Mary would always put flowers in their hair. Konoha himself has long hair as well, at the same length of Shion's, and always wears it on a bun. Now, however, he knows she would rather "eat one of those bugs he collects than have some dying flower in her hair"... quoted by Shion herself.

But despite the mess Shion's hair was, and how long her bangs are and how the strands of hair go everywhere, she always braids it into a single braid, so that said she at least cared a little. It was a really, really messy braid, but hey, it was something.

Of course, all of that is objective, because Konoha does not pay attention to these things. From his part, his opinion on his friend Shion's appearance is that she wears cute dresses and has cotton candy hair, that's all.

Konoha's train of thought is interrupted when he runs into Shion, since she was walking in front of him and has stopped. He gets some of her hair in his mouth, which of course didn't taste like cotton candy, so he's quick to step back.

(Her hair does smell of flowers though).

"Watch where you're walking, jeez," she tells him, turning around with fluttered cheeks and touching the spot on her head he hit. She always got embarrassed when people got too close (well, only Konoha. But Konoha doesn't know that).

"Sorry," he says, bashfully. Quickly getting over it, Konoha notices that the reason they stopped was because they were already at the doors of uncle Kano's apartment. "Oh, we're here!"

"Indeed."

"Do you know if he's home?"

"Hm, not really," Shion shrugged, taking a set of keys out of her backpack. Konoha blinked at her as she looked through them. She grabs one and opens the front door of the building. Konoha loses his mind.

"Shion!" he exclaims. She turns to him with a raised eyebrow, going in with no problem. "Why do you have keys of uncle Kano's place?"

"Oh, I made a copy of it," she answers, casually as ever. Since that didn't make Konoha look any less surprised, she laughed proudly. "I have copies of everyone's houses, ha ha ha!"

As she made that triunphant anime laugh, Konoha went in after her so the door could close, "Including mine?"

"Gosh, yours was the first one I got. In fact, I didn't even make a copy," Shion crossed her arms, her conceitedness not leaving her as she went inside the elevator with him. "Because I stole your keys to make the copies but you thought you lost them and your parents immediately replaced them, so I just kept yours."

As she laughed again, Konoha could only stare at her. He squints at her, "That's so sneaky!"

Shion kept giggling, and skipped out of the elevator when the doors opened.

After the whole talk about keys, it weirds him out that Shion knocks on the door of the apartment. Before he could say something about it, she clarifies, "I mean, just checking."

So they waited for a second. And just when Shion was getting impatient (which doesn't take long), the door opens, but it's not Kano.

"Uncle Shintaro?" Konoha asks, not even greeting him. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here?" Shintaro answered, like the answer was logical. "Also hello to you too?"

"Ah, sorry–"

"Hey, uncle Shintaro," Shion smiled, apparently familiar with the news of their uncles being roommates. Konoha just thought it was a strange pair. Sure, he knows they get along, but... "Can I please come in and look at the pictures again?"

Shion's voice lacked her usual grumpy tone, and her face looked sweet and angelical. Shintaro immediately smiles at her, because he's just weak to all of his nieces and nephews (well, Konoha's the only nephew), even if they weren't actually related.

"Ah, you sure love those pictures, huh?" he said, moving out of the way to let them in, "You know where they are."

"Yup! Thank you!"

Konoha follows Shion as she went in, realizing he hasn't been here in _years_.

The apartment was dark and had a bohemian vibe, but that's uncle Kano for you. Speaking of which...

"Where's uncle Kano?" Konoha asks. They were making their way into a bedroom, and as Shintaro followed, he quickly answers,

"At rehearsal. He'll be back later," Shintaro yawns, leaning against the door frame when the kids go into the room. Shion makes her way straight into the library, taking out the photo albums to see which one she wanted. "Can I uh, get you guys anything? Water, um...? I really don't have anything healthy, sorry. And Kano would kill me if I gave you his avocados."

Shion only giggles, "It's fine! We don't really want anything."

Konoha nods as well. Yeah, he didn't need anything. He still had some popcorn left, and Shion always keeps snacks in her bag for him, so he'll be fine.

"Okay, well, I'll be in my room if you guys need me," Shintaro awkwardly scratches the back of his head, and as soon as he gets out, Shion's focused face is back.

She puts three photo albums on the bed, and since she was on her knees in front of it, Konoha just decides to imitate her. As she flipped through the pages, Konoha asks, "Is this uncle Kano's bedroom?"

"Well, yeah," Shion answers like it was obvious. And, well, it really was. The bedspread was animal print, after all. "Hmm, I'm looking for the picture of your parents in highschool..."

"Huh?" Konoha stops feeling the soft fur of the bedspread at those words. That was just weird in itself. "Why would uncle Kano have... pictures of my parents in highschool...?"

"Because my grandad used to be their teacher."

"Ohhh," Konoha goes, nodding, before realizing that made no sense to him. "...That really doesn't tell me anything."

Shion stops flipping the pages, sending a sigh to the ceiling before turning to him, " _God_. You're dense. Okay, listen to me."

The girl flips back to another page, where Konoha sees pictures of aunt Kido, uncle Seto and uncle Kano playing with water in a backyard. They must've been around Shion's and his age then... But Shion points to another picture, one at the corner, where there was a couple in what looked like their mid thirties.

"These," Shion starts. "Are my grandparents from my dad's side. Kenjirou and Ayaka."

Konoha stares at the picture, and most notably, at the man. Kenjirou.

He looked... familiar? Hm. Well, apparently he was his parents' teacher, so it's possible he had seen a picture of him somewhere?

Well, no. That didn't make sense. Why would his parents keep a picture of their highschool teacher anywhere? That was just weird. Before he could continue stressing about it, Shion continues, flipping over to the next page,

"And this," she points at a picture of a teenage girl wearing a middle school uniform. She had red hairclips and a red scarf, "is my auntie Ayano. I'm sure you know of her."

"Auntie?" Konoha blinks. Nope, he doesn't know of any aunties named Ayano, and he's never seen that girl before. "Not really. Who is she? Your mom's sister or something?"

Now Shion, did look pretty surprised at this, "Wh– your parents never told you of auntie Ayano?"

"No?" he says, wondering if he hasn't been clear before. "I don't know who that is."

"...Weird," Shion pondered it for a second, but quickly got back into the subject. "Well, you see. She was my dad's big sister. So like, auntie Tsubomi and uncle Shuuya's big sister too. She was friends with your parents and uncle Shintaro."

"Ooooh," Konoha nods, as if that explained anything (it really didn't). "So, um– wait. _Was?_ Did she have a fight with everyone or something?"

His friend looks awkward for a second, and she clears her throat before turning over the next page, as if she didn't want to look at Ayano's face as she spoke. There's just more pictures of her though, this time with her siblings, so that was useless. Shion speaks, "She's dead."

"...Oh," Konoha looks down, "That's too bad."

"Yeah," Shion nods. "But it only opens another plothole for me."

"Gee, don't say plothole... you're talking about someone's death..." he says, but Shion doesn't listen,

" _Because,_ I asked my dad how auntie Ayano died," she begins, and Konoha sighs. He's sure that when she asked her father she had sounded just as sensitive as right now. That is, not at all. "He said she died in the same car accident as their parents– ah, the people I just showed you, my grandparents– well, they're also dead. Apparently they all died in a car accident. _But_  listen to this, and pay attention."

Shion flips the pages, pointing the dates beneath the pictures that said when they were taken. "So, this picture of grandad Kenjirou and grandma Ayaka happened _this_ year, right? Well, they _supposedly died_ that same year. Along auntie Ayano, _but,_ " she flips the pages again, "This is a picture of auntie Ayano and uncle Shuuya from the year next to that. And this one too. And this one too."

Konoha looked at them in surprise, and Shion smiled in satisfaction,

"So, get it? There is no way auntie Ayano died that year. And it couldn't have been that the pictures of future years have the dates messed up because _look,_ she has her highschool uniform here. She looked super young in the other pictures," Shion kept going, fire in her eyes. "And not only that, Konoha. But the only one to have died that year was grandma Ayaka. Because grandad Kenjirou is here too."

Shion flips the pages again, and there's a picture of Kenjirou with Konoha's parents.

Kenjirou's making the peace signs with his hands, but to put them behind Haruka and Takane's heads as if they had horns. He's grinning widely. His father is looking at his mother, his mouth open as if he had been speaking, and his mother was blinking. A really bad picture over all, but there Kenjirou was. And then Shion uncovers the picture beneath that one, going, "BOOM! I just blew your mind!"

That picture was some sort of selfie. It had the same background of... a classroom? It looked like a storage room, really. But there still were his parents and Kenjirou, like the picture was taken right after the other one, except that this time the camera person was featured too. That was, of course, Ayano, showing a toothy grin.

In the next pictures Shintaro seemed to have been forced in too, and they were blurry and bad, so it seems that this Ayano wasn't a good photographer.

"Clearly, no one but grandma Ayaka could've died that year. Auntie Ayano and uncle Kenjirou appear in later pictures, after all..." Shion says, and follows up with a mumble, maybe to herself. "So why did my dad lie to me about it?"

As Shion thought to herself, Konoha flipped back a page to see if there was anything like this. But unfortunately for his confusion, there were more pictures of his parents.

"Ah, these are of the cultural festival," Shion, coming back to earth, points to the page. "I think this is when your parents started dating, right?"

"I think so?" Konoha shrugged. He wasn't really sure, but he does know the cultural festival was important for them. His parents always spoke of it with fond smiles, after all, so it might be true that it was when they started going out. "Is– is that their classroom? Why aren't there any pictures of other students?"

"Well, that'd be difficult to do if they're the only students," Shion laughed, but said laughter dies down when Konoha just looks at her in confusion. The girl tilts her head to the side, "What?"

"What do you mean with that?"

"Oh, um..." Shion seems taken back for a second, but quickly realizes he must be lost. "...Didn't you know your parents were in a special needs class? They were each other's only classmates."

It takes Konoha a second.

Clearly, he didn't know about that. Seems like his parents forgot to mention that detail when they said they "met when they were in highschool."

So after thinking about it for a second, Konoha tries shaking the confusion away, "W – well, I know my mommy's narcoleptic, and it used to be real bad when she was younger, but... my dad?"

At this, Shion shrugs, "Dunno why he was there. I didn't even know that about your mom. I just know this because I had the same doubt as you, about how strange it is for a teacher to have so many pictures of just two students. So I asked uncle Shintaro and that's what he told me!"

Shion didn't seem to be weirded out by any of this, but for some reason it really bugged Konoha. She moves on,

"Okay, Konoha," she goes back to the first picture she showed of his parents, the one with blinking Takane and speaking Haruka, and points at his dad. "Look at your dad here. Look at the way he looks."

Konoha blinks, "Um... younger?"

Shion rolls her eyes, "Try again."

"Uuum," he stays quiet for a second. "Like me?"

She sighs, "No! Look at his hair!"

"Oh," Konoha giggles. "He looks weird with black hair. He's so old now."

"Okay, first of all, you're being real hard on your dad about his age right now," Shion starts. "Secondly, THIS IS WEIRD! Your dad's had gray hair since forever! And he isn't _that_  old! I mean, look at your mom! She's the same age and her hair isn't like that!"

"She dyes it by now, but don't tell her I told you," Konoha comments, but Shion just glares. "O – okay, yeah, it _is_ kinda weird. But I don't think it's a big deal... some people get gray hair earlier than others, I guess?"

"That's a logical conclusion from someone who sees this picture first," Shion smirks, pushing the open album towards the middle of the bed. She places a second one in its place, opening to look for something else. "I, however, saw _this_  first. So I was super confused when I saw that one."

This one was a page of pictures with everyone. But since Shion was pointing at a specific one, he just focuses on that. The picture this time was a nice one, only of his parents. They were both smiling, and his mommy was sitting on his dad's lap.

"This picture is barely _two years after_  the other one. So what, your dad got that gray head in just two years!? He must be like twenty here! It doesn't make sense!"

"Why is my dad on a wheelchair?" is all Konoha can say, and Shion groans again. He's probably not paying attention to what she wants him to see, but he couldn't help it.

What? So he was in a special needs class in one picture and in the next one he's in a wheelchair? Konoha wants to know what's up with that!

"Yeah, I don't know, I didn't put much thought into that," Shion shrugged it off, hurrying to come back to the hair subject, "And– okay, ready to compare? Look at this."

Shion took out of the first album the picture with Kenjirou, and put it next to the one they were seeing now. Konoha just stares, "Yeah, different hair. I saw it."

"No, Konoha! Look at the _moles!_ "

"Ah, so my dad's moles are also part of the red eyes conspiration?"

"Don't make fun of me and look!" Shion turns his face back to the pictures. "Your dad has two weird moles now, right? Well, back then he had just one! Like you do, the cute little one under your eye!"

"You think my mole's cute?"

"Shut up and answer me."

Konoha puffs up his cheeks looking at the pictures because dammit, Shion's right. But thankfully he's quick to think of a solution, "Well, maybe he got it tattoed!"

Shion immediately chokes out a laugh, "YEAH, RIGHT! Your dad of all people would get a tattoo! _On his face!_ "

"Well, hear me out!" Konoha happily starts, "My parents are always making silly bets! You know, of who wins on a videogame and things of the sort and the loser has to do whatever the winner says. So maybe dad lost a bet and mommy told him to get a tattoo of a second mole and a little line... something like that!"

When he finishes speaking, Shion is looking at him like she had just heard the single most ridiculous thing in the entire world. Konoha pouts.

"No offense, Konoha, but... no," Shion proceeds to take out the wheelchair picture as well, keeping it together with the first one. She puts away the album to grab the next one, "And, just so you know, now you'll see why I'm so intrigued by this whole thing."

Konoha feels himself start sweating cold as soon as she opens the next photo album. The first picture he sees is already unnerving.

He was okay with the first two, he really was. He thought nothing of them, but this one... this one was weird. The picture in question is... of his dad, apparently. But... just but.

"I told you it looked like he was cosplaying!" Shion spoke with a tone of triumph, but that goes away as soon as she sees how strangely Konoha stared at the picture. She places a hand on his shoulder, genuine concern winning over her voice, "Are you okay?"

"That's not my dad," he simply tells her, and looks away from the picture. Shion, albeit still a little worried, hums,

"Well, unless he has a twin brother..." she tells him. "I mean, look. White hair and weird moles again. And chronologically, this picture is in between the highschool picture and the one he's with your mom."

Konoha nervously watches the picture. His "dad", wearing some really weird clothes, had pink eyes and white hair. That in itself is incredibly weird. He was in the corner of a group picture. Shion ends up flipping the page again, and this time it was just a picture of him in front of a birthday cake. He looked very happy.

"See? It's your dad," Shion says, pointing at the date. "This is from a December 24th. That's your dad's birthday, right? Same day as yours."

"W – well, yeah, but..." Konoha tried to argue, but found no points in his favour. That was not his father, but he had no arguments as to why. "It just... can't be my dad. It can't."

"Why are you so convinced?"

"I don't know."

It was making his head spin.

This entire thing– everyone and everything was... so familiar.

And it wasn't because he _knows_  everyone. No, it was different. Even the place the pictures were taken at, that "hideout", the birthday cake, just everything felt like he's seen it before. Like he's... _lived_  that before.

It was kind of like a déjà vu, but taken to the next level.

Shion, even if she sounded a little hesitant, continued talking, "And, um... if that's not enough... well, your mom doesn't appear in any of these pictures. Like, she's not there at all in the time your dad seemed to be going through a weird phase. I looked into the chronological order of everything and going by that, she doesn't appear in a single picture for _two entire years_."

Konoha feels as if his stomach had just been turned inside out. Shion kept speaking,

"But your dad's the last member to have joined so your mom _should_ be there if he is. She's number six! It makes no sense!" she exclaimed. "So like, are they tied to the group because of auntie Ayano? But she's already dead by the moment they appear in the pictures together, when your dad's in the wheelchair, so that's not possible!

"Also, why is auntie Ayano what ties them to everyone else? Like, what? I mean, auntie Ayano is the founder of the Mekakushi Dan, and my dad and his siblings are, well, _siblings_ , and then my dad met my mom in the forest _for some reason_ , and then uncle Hibiya was friends with a girl who was auntie Ayano's niece and that's why he was staying with grandad Kenjirou who is _supposed to be dead,_  and then he meets auntie Momo and she already knew auntie Tsubomi so then she drags in uncle Shintaro and–! WHAT THE HELL EVEN IS THE MEKAKUSHI DAN!?"

It felt like Konoha's brain was rattling inside his skull. Oh, gosh, this was confusing. Now he gets why Shion is so obsessed with this whole thing; because she's insane.

Why would she want to torture herself with trying to understand that entire thing? Nothing made sense, it's actually sort of admirable that she managed to find out as much as she did. This just gave him a really bad feeling in his stomach.

It was kind of like his entire body was telling him "you don't want to know".

Shion's pushing three pictures on his chest before he could manage words out. One was the highschool picture of his parents; there also was the one with his parents snuggling in the wheelchair; and finally, the one with his weird looking dad happy about the birthday cake.

He would've liked to tell her that maybe, there are things that are better left in the dark, but when he takes another look at these pictures, he feels his throat close.

"Because this is my stump," Shion says, possibly following up other stuff she was saying and Konoha couldn't bring himself to hear. "There are lots of things I do not know, but... your parents, right now, are the biggest mystery to me. They go through so many different stages. They look so different everytime. So please, Konoha, ask them!"

She's bowing now, and Konoha doesn't really know what to say.

"Show them the pictures and question them about it, please!" Shion looks up at him, her eyes practically shining with excitement. "Gosh, if they answer your questions... if they explain their link to auntie Ayano and the Mekakushi Dan... so many questions will be answered!"

Konoha gulped as he held the pictures close to his chest, absolutely wanting to refuse, but... for some reason, what he ends up saying is the opposite of that, "Okay, Shion. I – I'll do it for you."

Shion beamed.

* * *

 

Konoha walks into his house feeling everything but positive emotions. The heaviness of everything spoken about today left him exhausted, and he really didn't want to deal with anything right now.

Unfortunately, everyone at home seemed in a good mood...

_Ah, wait, that's a really awful thing to think._

He's quick to recognize his parents's laughter, coming from the kitchen. When he walks in, he finds his big sister looking at them in confusion, and his mommy and dad leaning on each other as they tried to keep their balance in their uncontrollable laughter.

Fuyuha had her school things on the kitchen table, apparently having been doing homework, and she tapped her pen against the paper as she looked at them, "Seriously, mom, it really wasn't that funny."

That didn't make them stop, so Fuyuha just sighed, turning to Konoha with a look of "oh, well". He hums, "What are they laughing at?"

His sister shrugs, "At first because dad mispronounced something, but it was so not funny that I'm actually not sure. I don't know, they're old."

Now that does make their parents stop, Takane immediately points a finger to her, "HEY!"

Haruka, on his part, was still giggling a little, but decided to pay more attention to Konoha, "Welcome home! How was the movie?"

At the question, the three pictures in his hoodie's pouch felt heavy. He clears his throat, "I, um... we didn't go to the movies because... Shion changed her mind. We ended up going to uncle Shintaro's place."

Konoha nervously stares back at his dad, completely sure he'll call him out on his lies despite he technically didn't lie. God, they're going to be so angry that he lied. They're going to ground him for life. Not that his parents ever grounded him or his sister, but this is it and it was happening.

"Okay!" his father chirps, and goes back to trying to tickle Takane. Konoha lets out a breath of relief.

As his parents continued... dancing... or whatever they were doing, Konoha just stares. He does admits that everything Shion talked about was strange, and it sure messed him up but... gosh, really, did it even matter? His parents really are the most conventionally normal people there could ever be.

That's what he's telling himself, but at the same time... he feels like he might never sleep again if he doesn't get answers to this. It wasn't even the entire thing that made Konoha feel weird, no. In fact, knowing that his dad apparently had something that put him on a wheelchair and a special needs class wasn't even that heavy anymore. If he wasn't told about it, then it's probably because his parents don't have any interest in letting him know.

That was fine. He could respect it if they considered it was something that doesn't concern him. He'd live with it.

But...

Those middle pictures, of his father dressed as some kind of videogame character. It just could not be him.

It made Konoha's stomach feel like it was a knot.

So he gulps, and sits next to his sister at the kitchen table. Fuyuha kindly moves her stuff over so he has space, her headphones hanging from her neck blasting soft pop music. Konoha looks at her focus on her homework; he sees it's math. Fuyuha always struggles with math.

"Need any help, Fuyu?" his father seemed to be paying attention to the same thing, because he soon leans in to ask this. He places a warm cup of something in front of her; Konoha sees it's hot chocolate. Fuyuha immediately brightens up at the sight of it.

As she went to grab it, she moved her head in a weird way, as if she didn't decide between nodding and shaking it no. She ends up sighing, "Y – yeah. I still don't get it."

Konoha assumes that she sounds shy because Haruka had probably already explained it quite a few times. Their dad, however, doesn't look annoyed at all. He simply leans in, turns over her notebook so he could see too, and points at a equation, "Okay, start by isolating the variable."

"Dad, I swear I understand none of the words you speak," Fuyuha immediately answers, voice breaking in despair. Haruka awkwardly smiles, and decides to sit down. It was gonna take a while.

Konoha now looks over at his mommy. Takane was leaning against the kitchen counter, holding a warm drink for herself too, watching the scene with a nervous smile. She takes a sip of her coffee (Konoha assumes it's coffee), "I'm sorry you inherited my dumb brain, Fuyuha."

Fuyuha just groans, "You've cursed me, mother."

"Hey! No one cursed anyone and no one has a dumb brain here!" Haruka immediately cuts in. "Mom might not be "booksmart" but she's very smart in other fields, just like you! You don't need to know how to solve an equation to be a smart person."

Konoha decides to join in; maybe some family banter would distract him from the weird afternoon he had. "Well... but it certainly would help."

His mother laughs, which makes Konoha smile. Meanwhile, it just makes Fuyuha groan again; Haruka panics, "A – ah, gee, don't worry! It's just taking you a little more time, there's nothing wrong with that!"

But Fuyuha was too far gone. She banged her head against the table and continued whining against her papers, "I'm sixteen and I can't multiply."

As that happened and Haruka tried to cheer her up, Takane also sits down, right in front of Konoha. He swallows, because oh god, she's looking at him now so that probably means she's gonna talk to him. He's not ready. If he talks to his mommy he'll immediately throw the pictures on her face!

She gently places a cup of hot chocolate in front of him, along with a tray of cookies. They were clearly homemade, and that doesn't surprise Konoha since his father has a liking of baking, but these looked unusually wonky. That was weird; dad's always so neat and makes cute designs on them. This time they looked...

"Yeah, dad didn't make them, don't stare so much," his mother immediately interrupts his thoughts, quickly realizing Konoha was studying them. "It was me but it's the same recipe so deal with it."

She looked a little shy, but Konoha just smiles. It's not usual for his mommy to bake, so a wonky cookie wasn't gonna stop him from eating. Besides, a cookie is a cookie, so he grabs one. Apparently today's dinner is a breakfast.

"Oh, they're even better," Haruka chimes in, immediately grabbing a cookie. Fuyuha too, and when Konoha looks at her, she already has her mouth full, plus crumbs around her lips. "They're made with love as well but it's better because it's mommy love! Look, this one looks like a heart!"

Haruka grabs one that indeed looked like a heart, but a very accidental and misshapen heart. Of course, he sees it as an opportunity to kiss his wife's cheek. Takane still looked a little grumpy, but Konoha sees the tiny smile she tried to hide when taking another sip of coffee.

The cookie tastes like the ones his father makes anyway, so it's apparent to Konoha that Haruka probably supervised her through it. Otherwise, he's sure they would be burnt. Not that his mommy isn't careful, but... his mommy isn't careful.

And for a moment, Konoha feels calm. He listens to his sister start to feel a little better about math as Haruka calmly explained the problem again, and his mother seemed calm and in a good mood as his father caressed her hand with his thumb.

Konoha smiles to himself, and takes a sip of his hot chocolate. His phone buzzes in his hoodie.

When he grabs it, he pinches his hand with the pointy corner of one of the pictures still in the pouch, and the horrible feeling inside his stomach is back. To make it worse, it's a text from Shion,

_**[Seto Shion, 6:08 PM]** Did you ask them????_

He swallows the bite of cookie without even chewing it, and properly downs it with another sip of hot chocolate. He leaves the text on seen, and then looks back at his parents. Fuyuha had apparently gotten the math problem now, because she was quietly scribbling with no help.

"U – um..." Konoha starts, and his parents' eyes are immediately on him. They feel like they're drilling holes in his head. He nervously reaches to grab a picture, and he puts it on the table, like this is some sort of crime movie or something.

The picture he grabbed turns out to be the most recent one; the one with his mother sitting on his father's lap, both smiling big. His parents, surprised, lean in to take a better look at it.

Konoha thought they'd get serious, see where this was going and immediately get on the subject, but all they do is– ah, laugh. Of course.

"Oh, that's a nice picture!"

"Yeah, I remember when we took it..."

"Yes, Kano was really excited about that new camera he got~"

As they spoke, they intended to grab the picture, but before either could do it Fuyuha slips it away to see it herself,

"No way," she looked at it, and then turned it over to show it to Konoha, as if he hadn't been the person to put the picture on the table on the first place. "Look, they were so young!"

"Jeez, why do you sound so surprised?" Takane crossed her arms, offended. "Of course we did, we were like nineteen there."

"Nineteen and you were wearing pigtails?"

"One more word and I'm grounding you."

As Fuyuha giggled about it, Konoha started to panic. This was going way too well; thing is, it didn't have to go well. This wasn't going the way he had expected at all! He needed them to talk about serious things!

As if on purpose, Fuyuha cuts her own laughter off when she realizes a key detail, "Uh– wait, dad, why are you on a wheelchair here?"

It's then when their parents' smiles are finally gone. They share a look with each other before Haruka reaches over to grab the picture himself; he smiles at it, and then at Fuyuha, "Oh, it's nothing. I used to have health problems when I was a bit younger."

Konoha wanted to facepalm. That was so vague!

"A _lot_  younger, you mean."

" _Hey._ "

Takane leans in, quickly snatching the picture from Haruka's fingers, "Okay, but where did you get this, Konoha?"

Ah, the awaited question.

He lets out a shaky breath, and looks away in embarrassment, because he's just realizing he actually stole that picture. He hasn't thought about it until now, but "taking something that doesn't belong to you" is how someone would define "stealing" and that just so happens to be what he did with these pictures, "I, um, found it at uncle Kano's place."

"Ah~ so he has this cute picture and never gave it to us?" Takane, content with that answer, simply stares at it with fond eyes. "I bet he has more. Well done, Konoha. Continue the good work."

"Um, excuse me?" Haruka smiles kindly. "Does he know you took it?"

As Konoha can't bring himself to answer, Haruka sighs, but before he could say something, Takane cuts in, "Konoha, I have never been more proud of you."

"Takane," Haruka tried to sound naggy, but the laughter that threatened its way out made it impossible.

All in all, no one seemed surprised about any of this, and it made him uneasy. So, on an act of impulse, Konoha ends up taking out the other two pictures.

This time, his parents go white. Fuyuha leans in again,

"Why is dad cosplaying there?"

"That's not dad," Konoha accidentally spills, and his parents shakily shift their attention from the pictures to him. He looks away, "I – is it?"

Both open their mouths as if to answer, but seem frozen in place. Eventually, Haruka just looks away and covers his mouth, and that makes Konoha feel really bad. Because his dad clearly got upset. When he looks over to his mommy, she looked... also upset, but more on the angry side.

Oh, boy. That was not good.

Fuyuha, absolutely lost, elbows Konoha softly, "What's this?"

Konoha spits out all the information without a second of consideration. He puts the pictures in the supposed chronological order, and starts, "These are mommy and dad when they were in highschool. That's their teacher who is Shion's grandpa from her dad's side. Mommy and dad were in a special needs class and they were friends with their teacher's daughter Ayano and she's apparently Shion's aunt and she died when she was young, supposedly in a car accident with her parents but that's impossible. It'd make more sense if you looked at the pictures– ah, and here where "dad" is cosplaying, he looks like this for like two years worth of pictures and mommy doesn't show up at all in them. Then he looks like he does now which is very weird! Why does his hair go white and then gray in such a short time! You know dad can't stand hair dye! When mommy dyes her hair he wants to puke because he hates the smell! OH, I FORGOT! Ayano is the founder of the Mekakushi Dan! Mommy and dad are member number six and nine! So how can dad be in the pictures and not mommy!? And–"

"Konoha," his sister cuts him off, speaking slowly just like their dad when he's trying to explain math to her. She looked almost frightened, possibly weirded out about how much he was speaking. To be honest, Konoha's not sure he's _ever_ , in his life, talked as much as he just did. "You're out of your mind."

Then, she turns to their parents and gestures his way as if asking "what is up with him?"

"Are you hearing yourself? Are you hearing that you are _not_  making any sense?" Fuyuha laughed. "You've been hanging out with Shion-chan, haven't you?"

"I _am_  making sense!" he insists, feeling his face heat up and now turning to their parents. "Mommy and dad understand. Don't they?"

Takane takes in a breath, massaging the bridge of her nose. She speaks words he feared she'd say, "None of this concerns you, Konoha."

He understood that. He really did.

Seriously, that was what made Konoha weird about the whole thing in the first place. Once he found out Shion's mother said this, he felt officially done with the matter. But now he couldn't accept this answer. He really just couldn't, because...

Because this does concern him. It just did, and he needed to know about it. This is not about his parents; this is about him.

"It does," is all Konoha brings himself to say. His voice sounds low, and his throat feels like it's closing with nervousness. "Please tell me."

His father lets out a breath, as if he was composing himself to deal with the situation. However, he begins to shake his head, "Sorry, Konoha. But mom's right."

To say he was frustrated would be an understatement. Konoha, despite he had not cared about this hours ago, was desperate for his parents to answer any way but this one.

They're saying exactly the same things Shion's parents say. Shion has always been right, after all. There's something they don't want them to know.

But to Konoha, it was different. This was on a personal level. Then again, it's not like he could just tell that to his parents. He can't just say "yeah? Well, _I_  feel like it concerns me so it does and I have the right to know!"; it sounded pretty bad. But really, he didn't know _what_ to say.

Because his parents are saying no, and he's never found himself in the position of wanting to argue with that so badly.

He doesn't want the strained relationship Shion has with her mother. That'd be the end of the world for him; his mother really is the best, and the thought of being at odds with her was unbearable.

It's also unbearable to feel like a piece of him is missing, though. Because that's exactly how it felt.

So Konoha takes the risk, and he shakes his head, "I want to know."

He can see his mother is flustered, and it only gets worse after he says that. It was weird of him to be pushy about something, let alone on something he was already said no to, but it wasn't like it could be helped this time.

Konoha would like to think something like "ah, if I had stayed out of it since the beginning, Shion wouldn't have gotten these things in my mind" but that way, he'd just be lying to himself. This was a matter of time.

The distance he felt within himself, the weird dreams he can never remember and the constant, eternal feeling of "I am forgetting something."

That's why he's firm, "Please."

This time, her mother is quick to answer, "No. It has nothing to do with you."

She sounded so cold. He's never heard her mother direct herself to him this way. She always sounds warm and fun, and if he's honest, Konoha can't really re-call if she has ever been angry with him. There's been the moments here and there when they disagree like any normal people would, but...

He doesn't think he's ever had this sort of interaction with her. One where he's practically defying her. Because she already said no, and not only once. And if Kokonose Takane is something, then that is impatient. And as her son, Konoha knows that very well.

And even knowing that, he repeats, "Mommy," he goes on, but this time his mother clicks her tongue. It's discouraging, but he doesn't stop himself, "If you could just–"

"No, Konoha!" she cuts him off. "Jeez! Drop it!"

"But–"

And there's when she loses her patience. It's actually surprising it took this long for that to happen.

Konoha feels himself jump in his seat even before the scream, because his mother had banged her hands against the table as she yelled, her voice cracking, "I SAID DROP IT!"

The cups trembled, but no one could bring themselves to even try to grab them and avoid getting anything spilled. Thankfully, nothing does spill, but even if it did Konoha's sure no one would've paid attention to it anyway.

It almost didn't even sound like his mother's voice. Certainly, Konoha's never heard her raise her voice like that.

Sure, she yelled. His mommy's a particularly loud person; but it was usually while she played games or she told his dad to quit being so mushy and touchy while she tried to do stuff. But never, ever like this, let alone directed to her children.

Needless to say, Konoha's eyes fill up with tears in an instant. Not only because of how overwhelming it is to have his mother yell at him, but because she took a shaky breath, and looked like she was about to start crying herself.

His father immediately aids her, putting his hands on her shoulders. Takane covers her face, and Haruka turns to him. That was a weird scene in Konoha's eyes, too; his father being the one comforting his mother.

He still looked upset, but now it was mixed with worry and some sort of...weird emotion. Like he was–

Like he was disappointed. The thought causes the tears in Konoha's eyes to finally roll down.

"Ko – Konoha, go to your room, okay?"

A part of him wanted to discuss, the Shion part of him. But the vulnerability was stronger, and all he can do is meekly nod. He slips off the chair, reaching over to grab the pictures, but his dad puts his hands over them.

When he looks up at him, it marks the first time Konoha's seen his father so serious. With no more, Konoha turns on his heels and makes his way upstairs.

As he does so, he hears his sister's voice clearing her throat before awkwardly going, "So, um, isolating the variable?"

(...)

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 7:40 PM]** mom yelled at me_

It took him longer than he would've liked to even have the energy to grab his phone and actually answer Shion.

He stares at the screen for a moment. He looks at his message get the "read" notification, and he sees how at the bottom of the chat _"Shion is writing"_  instantly shows up. But then it goes away, and then it comes back. That happens a few times until Konoha realizes Shion didn't know what to answer. He locks his phone and drops it next to his pillow, where he was pressing his face on, to hopefully die soon.

Everything sucks.

As he started groaning against it, his phone starts ringing. That wasn't better, because his ringtone is the soundtrack of a game his mommy loves. Konoha himself isn't a fan of videogames, but he loves the silly music sometimes, and it's always a reminder of a good time with his mommy.

That just makes him sadder.

Sighing, he grabs his phone, and isn't surprised to see Shion's the caller. He considers not answering for a second, because he really wasn't in the mood to talk about anything, but the thought of hanging up on a dear friend was very bizarre to him.

"Hey, Shion..."

"Y – you sound really upset..." Shion's hesitant voice welcomes him at the other end of the line. "What happened?"

"Well, I asked them," he slurrs the words because he was putting zero effort in trying to hide his feelings. And he was also still pressing his face against the pillow, because he was downright miserable. "And they didn't wanna tell me and mommy got mad. I'm sorry, Shion. I didn't get any answers."

"I don't care about that, dummy," Shion immediately says, actually surprising Konoha. She sounded very upset too, "I – I asked you to do that because I never thought, in a million years, that your parents would react the same way as mine. I'm so sorry, Konoha."

Her voice was cracking, but not to the point he'd think she's crying. However, Konoha's pleasently surprised. He didn't really give credit to her; he was sure she'd be insensitive and just demand answers as soon as he picked up the phone.

But that wasn't the case at all. She didn't only sound upset, she was saying she was _sorry._

"Ah, um..." Konoha turns over on his bed, now facing the ceiling. He sees old glow in the dark star stickers he and his father put there a few years ago; they didn't glow anymore. "It's okay, Shion. It's not your fault."

"It – it is, though," she insisted. "Really, I'm so, _so_  sorry. I never wanted that to happen. I know that your mom getting mad at you is basically the worst thing possible for you. I am so sorry."

He pouts. Shion's sincerity and genuine feelings were making him want to cry again. He really thought that she'd go "oh, so there _is_  something they're hiding, huh!? Well, we just gotta keep looking!" or something like that. But she wasn't even touching the subject.

Konoha smiles, despite he knew Shion couldn't see him, "Don't worry. Thank you, though."

She hears her hum dejectedly, like she just wanted to answer but really didn't know what to say. "...Well, I'll text you later to see how you're doing, o – okay?"

"Okay."

"...See you later."

"See you," he says, and Shion hangs up. He leaves the phone in his ear for a little more, though.

Conveniently, there's a soft knock on his door soon after that. Konoha winces, and considers pretending to be asleep. But that'd be dishonest.

"Yeah," he raises his voice just a little so the person will hear him. A part of him was expecting it to be his mother, but he's not surprised when the one opening the door is his dad.

He smiles at him, "Can I come in?"

Of course Konoha wasn't in the mood, but he doesn't really think about that when he nods. Haruka comes in, closing the door behind him as Konoha sat up criss crossed on the bed, since he knew his dad would sit there too. And he does.

He hears his father's words before he even says them, "Sooo... things got a little out of hand earlier..."

Shrugging, Konoha looks down, "Is mommy still mad at me?"

"No!" Haruka hurries to say. "Mom isn't mad. She was just... she was just overwhelmed with all your questions, you know? It's kind of a touchy subject for her."

Konoha swallows back asking why. Because asking why could make things get "a little out of hand" again. He chooses to stay quiet, and he hears his dad sigh,

"You know, Konoha," he started, honesty taking over his tone. It makes Konoha look up at him, the tiniest bit of hope appearing in his stomach as he hears his father. Maybe, just maybe, he'd tell him something? Haruka looks at him, "I can't tell you anything."

Konoha's hope dies down the same way a balloon loses air. Fart noise and all. Haruka must've noticed, because he quickly puts a hand on his son's shoulder,

"Listen, it's just–" he looked up, as if he was trying to look for the right words to speak of this. "Your... your mom and I went through a lot when we were younger. Everyone else too, in the Mekakushi Dan, which... you apparently know about."

He whispers the last part, in a tone of disbelief. Like it was bizarre to him that Konoha would know of that.

"Lots of things happened back then, you know? And they're just... really awful things none of us wants to remember or talk about," Haruka carried on. Konoha just forced himself to listen; he already knew he'd say something like this. "We worked really hard to move on, and we want those things to stay in the past."

 _I know this already,_  Konoha thinks, but he's not sure how he knows. After all, Shion knew lots of things, but she hadn't mentioned that things were "awful". If it got this reaction out of everyone, though, that was sort of obvious.

Even if those are his thoughts, the boy forces himself to nod and say, "Okay, dad."

Right answer, because his father quickly smiles at him, "Okay?"

He wanted to cry out of frustration, really, so of course it wasn't okay. But Konoha just nods again, "Yeah. I'm sorry I was so pushy."

Haruka blinks at him, clearly surprised at how well he was apparently taking this. So, smiling nervously, he goes, "O – oh! Well, don't worry about it. It's all good as long as you understand. It just... well, it doesn't concern you."

Those words again. It felt like a punch in the stomach. And even so, Konoha forces a smile, "Y – yup."

"I'm sure... I'm sure mom will talk to you too. She feels really bad about screaming."

The thought upset him. Not having to talk to his mom, but her feeling guilty about this. Ah, gosh, it ended up being a bad day for everyone, huh? Like the day Negima died...

His dad pats his shoulder after he whispers a small "okay", and soon, the weight of him on the bed is gone. Haruka shoots him another smile before getting out of the room, and Konoha immediately lies back down.

He didn't feel any better.

* * *

 

"You know, I also feel like you have the right to know."

Konoha wakes up to an empty, white space.

"But I guess that's because I know something they don't."

He can hear a soft voice, probably belonging to a girl. But it's not a voice he knows this time.

"Wh–" he can't even bring himself to ask anything; it's like his voice is snatched away when he turns around and sees the creepy setting he's in.

It's like some sort of hospital room. An endless one.

There was the bed, and hundreds of machines linked to it through wires and things of the sort. It made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, especially when he recognizes a figure sitting on the bed.

It was of a girl. She wasn't facing him, but it was only logical to assume that's the person who was talking. As creepy as the hospital bed was, it was creepier the eternal white there was behind him, so Konoha scaredly rushes towards the only visible things. As soon as he does, the girl looks at him over her shoulder. Konoha feels chills.

"It's nice to properly meet you, Konoha," she says, flashing a radiant smile. It weirded him out; she looked fairly normal, and that wasn't the smile of someone who was in a place like this. He feels more nervous by the second as he walks closer, finally getting a proper look of her. "I'm sure you know of me. I mean, just yesterday Shion-chan introduced you to me~"

Konoha squints, and despite how slow he might be, the realization is quick to hit him.

"A – Ayano?" he says, unsure of himself. The girl grins,

"Correct!" she giggles. She has the same brown eyes and brown hair from the picture, but there was no red scarf. "I wonder if you'd call me auntie Ayano if you had known me earlier~? That'd be nice."

Konoha blushes a little. That'd be awkward to do, since Ayano looked like she was roughly fifteen; she was even wearing a middle school uniform. If she had been friends with his parents though... that meant she was supposed to be in her fourties, right?

_Well... that'd be if she was alive._

He swallows, looking around again, "U – um, what... what is this place? Why are we here?"

"Oh," Ayano looked around as well, not as creeped out. Or just, not creeped out at all. "Well~ no one comes in here these days, luckily. But out of all the possible places we could meet, I felt like this was the most appropiate one. Not the most appealing one though, is it? Ah, your father really was unlucky to get this sort of room for himself."

Before Konoha could question that utterly confusing answer, Ayano goes on,

"As to why we're here, well..." she hummed, as if she was trying to come up with a reason on the first place. "Well, Konoha, I know you're currently frustrated over something. You and Shion-chan, that is. You're two curious kids, aren't you?"

Konoha blinks at her, feeling inane fear creeping up on him, "Are you... like a ghost or something!?"

"Hehehe, not really..." Ayano giggled like she found his words adorable. When her laughter stops, though, she looks up, putting a finger on her chin, "Hm, well~ Actually, it's kind of like that. Let's just say I like keeping a watch on everyone!"

That sounded really scary, but since she had said it so happily, Konoha only can't say much.

"So, I'm aware of the doubts you have over the past," Ayano says, keeping her smile despite the serious tone she took. "Shion-chan's only aiming to uncover it for fun, but you..."

She turns over to look at him,

"To you, it's on a more personal level, isn't it?"

Konoha takes a step back, "H – how did you–"

"Like I said," Ayano says, her soft voice turning serious for a moment. "I know something your parents don't know. I know why you need to know."

He felt himself shiver.

Ayano must've been his parents' friend and all but... she gave him some really creepy vibes right now. He wasn't sure about her intentions at all. When Ayano giggles, Konoha basically jumps. She sounded so serious just now, seriously, what's with her?

"Wh – what is it?"

"It's just, Konoha looks a lot like Haruka-san, isn't it?" Ayano laughed. "You even have his mole! I just think it's funny~!"

_Ah... she's definitely odd..._

"And from what I've seen, your sister's very similar to him too," she went on, "I wonder how Takane-san feels about being the only short one in the family?"

"She's– she's really mad about it," Konoha, still a little doubtful, allows himself to be as carefree on his answer. Despite how weird she was, Ayano didn't seem like an evil person in the slightest. "Um, well..."

"O – oh, sorry!" Ayano, now showing a bit of embarrassment, quickly apologizes. "I was getting off topic. I was just– kind of happy about meeting you, that's all..."

Those words finally allow Konoha to see the melancholy in Ayano's eyes, and he suddenly can't help but feel sorry for her. She said she's sort of like a ghost, after all. That sounds... like she's bored a lot. Feeling bored is kind of a bummer. Before he can even realize how tactless his question is, he goes, "Do you miss my parents, Aya... um, auntie Ayano?"

The brunette sends a smile his way, visibly happy at the way she was addressed, before her expression turned sad again.

"Of course. All the time," she nods. "But it makes me happy to know they made their way back to each other, and that they were able to build this wonderful life together. They truly deserved it, after all."

She sighed contently, and Konoha felt even sadder. For her to be so happy over the life of her friends– all in all, Ayano's existence sounded very lonely to Konoha.

"But..." Ayano carries on, "I can't help but miss Shintaro-kun most of all, haha..."

That takes Konoha by surprise. He knew little to nothing about Ayano, after all, so of course this was unexpected to him.

"I feel kind of guilty about it, though," she forced out another giggle. "Of course I miss my siblings like crazy as well, but when it comes to him... I just can't help but wonder what it could've been. Hehe, I wonder if... If we would've had the chance to have a future like Haruka-san and Takane-san's."

Before he could answer her, most likely to question her about these things, Ayano turns to look at him with determination.

"But, that's not why I brought you here, Konoha," she says, jumping off the bed. She spins around to face him, and when Konoha sees Ayano's eyes shining in red he can only hear Shion's voice yelling "I TOLD YOU SO!" in his head. Ayano reaches her hands towards him, "I'm here to give back what belongs to you."

"W – wait–" Konoha can only close his eyes when Ayano places her hands on his cheeks, and he inanely blushed when she kept leaning in, pressing her forehead against his. It was dumb to feel embarrassed, really; she might look like a pretty girl who's around his age, but since she really was around her parents' age, and just implied she has or had romantic feelings for his uncle, it was kind of messed up.

Those thoughts, however, are quickly washed away when a sea of different scenarios barge into his mind, bringing a massive headache on the process. Konoha, struggling to process all of it, can only stare at Ayano as she leaned away.

Ayano looked guilty.

"I hope you feel complete now, Konoha," she told him, despite she probably wasn't sure if he'd listen. "I'm not sure your parents should know of it, though. Haruka-san did lose his ability when you were born, so it's possible that he might've thought about it–"

"Wh – what–" Konoha, with tears in his eyes, can't really focus on hearing Ayano at the moment. He just looks at her in desperation, "What did you do to me–"

He felt as if he had just heard a loud noise. A really loud noise. Holding on his head, which felt as if it was about to explode, Konoha gets on his knees in an attempt of dealing with the feelings and the pain that came with them. He didn't have the time to see if he felt "complete", or time to worry about his parents knowing about whatever it is, because Konoha–

All Konoha can do is cry about a girl named Hiyori.

A girl named Hiyori, who he couldn't save.

Ayano put a hand on his shoulder. He looks up at her, now serious and collected, "I have the ability to project thoughts and memories to others."

As he sobbed, Ayano simply smiled again; but this time it was a reassuring smile, like she was trying to comfort him. Just like that, she hugs him, holding him close,

"The power of caring, I like to say," she whispered, and Konoha clinged on her uniform. "I possess Favoring Eyes, and I'm returning your memories to you, Awakening Eyes."

Konoha hits his head against the floor when he wakes up.

There are tears on his eyes, and he gulps. He's watching the ceiling of his bedroom, at the glow in the dark stars that don't work anymore. The sun sneaks in from the closed blind shutters.

He takes in a deep breath, because this time, he remembers all of his dreams.

(...)

"Morning, Konoha!"

His sister Fuyuha is the only person to greet him, and she sounded like she was in a good mood. Konoha does his best to act casual, "Morning, big sis."

It was noon already, but neither of them really cared. Konoha looks around, nervous about seeing his... um, his parents.

(Of course, they're still his parents, but with all these old memories back in his head... it was kind of weird to think about).

"Mom and dad are at the grocery store," Fuyuha told him, noticing he was looking for them. "And by the way! Guess who managed to finish _six entire equations_  by herseeeelf! With... a little help from dad...!"

Konoha smiles at her. He felt calmer from looking at his sister; after all, she hasn't been part of that entire thing. His big sister is a true outsider, and a gentle reminder of Konoha's current position in life as Haruka and Takane's son.

"Congratulations."

Fuyuha skipped around, putting back her headphones and sending another smile his way, "Thankieees!"

She puts her hand up, which Konoha accepts gladly. He quickly highfives her, and after a triunphant "yesss!" Fuyuha throws herself in the couch. Konoha, on the other hand, realizes he should check his phone. He sits at the kitchen table, and sighs at the amount of messages.

He had around thirty six new messages from Shion, which really wasn't unusual, but this time she wasn't ranting about random things of her conspirations. She was...

_**[Seto Shion, 3:16 AM]** I can't sleep, I swear._

_**[Seto Shion, 3:16 AM]** I just can't stop thinking about it. I feel so bad that your mom yelled at you because of me._

It started like that, but it went all the way to,

_**[Seto Shion, 4:21 AM]** Seriously, I'm starting to think that this may all be for nothing._

_**[Seto Shion, 4:22 AM]** It's like it does more harm than anything. It'd be okay if it was just a silly investigation, but if it gets to the point where everyone basically starts crying everytime we bring it up it's just..._

_**[Seto Shion, 4:22 AM]** It might... actually not be worth the trouble..._

Konoha, despite being both glad and surprised to read these words, does feel a little sorry for her. He knew how much this entire thing meant to Shion, but it was admirable to see how she managed to think it over. Being completely honest though, it would've been exciting to share with Shion everything he knows now that he met Ayano.

But... it may not matter anyway. Just like his dad said yesterday, some things may be better left in the past.

Konoha smiles to himself.

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 1:10 PM]** thats good shion_

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 1:10 PM]** im glad you came to.a mature concluson :)_

_**[Seto Shion, 1:11 PM]** Yeah, but this means I fought with my mom all this time for nothing._

_**[Seto Shion, 1:11 PM]** It means I have nothing to do now._

_**[Kokonose Konoha, 1:11 PM]** you coudl hang out wiht me!!_

Shion's answer takes a few minutes to arrive, despite she read his message as soon as he sent it.

_**[Seto Shion, 1:17 PM]** That'd be nice._

Konoha feels his heart soften when he reads that answer. She said it'd be nice...

Becoming aware of himself, he can't help but blush. Ah, that was weird. He's never... really thought anything of any of Shion's answers, really. Why does everything seem so different now?

It was almost like now that he finally knows what was missing, he can actually go on with everything. It really was that he was finally complete, and now he was able to do things he couldn't before. Like blush over his best friend sending him a text like she does everyday.

As he thinks these things over, he's writing to Shion to see if she wants to do something today too. Like actually going to the movies. Oh, and perhaps go see his best friend Shintaro again! Now that he remembers it's his best friend, that is.

Soon, he hears the front door opening, and his stomach turns in itself in anticipation of things. He takes in a breath, hearing his mommy and dad say hello to his sister.

He gets up from his chair, determined to be normal, but when he turns around his mother's the first thing he sees. He immediately jumps, "AUGH! MOMMY!"

Takane screams back, almost dropping the stuff she had in her hands, "G – god, Konoha! Don't scare me like that!"

"So – sorry... I wasn't expecting to see you ther... Ah," he has to stop himself, because his nostrils would not fail him. It smelled... it smelled glorious. Konoha, almost drooling himself, drills his eyes into the paper bag his mommy was holding. The logo printed on it confirmed his suspicions.

His mommy was holding a paperbag from the best barbecue place in the city. And it looked like it had food inside. Konoha is about to lose his mind.

Takane quickly notices his son's teary eyes at the paper bag, and she holds it out to him, looking away in embarrassment,"I – I brought you this."

"Ah!" Konoha might actually start crying. He grabs the bag like it's the most precious thing to have ever existed (and IT IS), peeking inside to find out it's his absolute favourite thing of the menu. The smell hits his face and really, is he in heaven? He is. Reality soon sets in, though. "W – wait, mommy. There's always such a long line to buy food from this place–"

It wasn't just Konoha and his father obsessed with that barbecue place, after all. It was insanely popular in the entire area, and the line was always long and tiring to wait in. Especially on sundays.

His mommy blushes, as she stutters out, "Th – that doesn't matter. It's just– I'm... I'm really sorry I yelled at you yesterday. You should've listened, but I overreacted and I am sorry. I hope you can forgive me."

She looked down, as if she was ready to be smacked on the head by him, but Konoha simply smiles. Ah, gosh, Ene!

Ene is his mommy and his mommy is Ene. His mommy was inside Shintaro's phone all along back then!

Konoha puts the paper bag on the kitchen table, reaching to hug his mom. Takane, despite blinking confusedly at him at first, gladly hugs him back. Since he had just woken up, his hair was still down, getting her face lost in the tangled mess it was, but that didn't matter right now.

Even if he had just seen her last night, it felt like he hasn't seen Ene in years. The hug just ends when Takane goes,

"Haruka! Don't touch that, it's Konoha's!"

He breaks apart from his mommy to see his dad trying to sneak his hand into the paper bag, frozen in place after being caught. He pouts, "Aw, wifey! But I want some too! What do I have to do for you to yell at me and then go buy yummy barbecue for me?"

"Nothing. I bought some for you too, gee. It's in the car," Takane rolls her eyes, and Haruka instantly beams to the sky (well, ceiling) before coming over to wrap her in a hug.

"You are the love of my life!" he leans away to tell her this, grabbing her by the shoulders, before sweeping her off her feet to give her a passionate kiss. All because she brought barbecue for him. Konoha just looks away awkwardly.

When that whole show's over, Haruka excitedly claps his hands together, repeating "barbecue, barbecue, barbecue!" in some sort of song. Takane, all dizzy like she ended up like, tries to straighten up.

Konoha's phone buzzes again; it's Shion saying she'd love to go to the movies. His phone buzzes again and again and again, marking like five more messages from her eagerly talking about a mystery movie she's been interested about since a while.

"Today I'm going to the movies with Shion," he happily announces. His mommy raises an eyebrow at him, so he feels the need to clarify, "This time for real. I hope."

"Okay, Konoha~" Haruka says, and when he looks at him, Konoha can't help a big smile. His father, a little confused over the happy face, just stares back at him with a tiny smile.

So, Konoha might've been around back then, but... His life didn't truly start until he remembered everything. This is why he felt so different today.

"Um," is all Haruka can say when Konoha can't help himself, and he jumps in to hug him. He quickly feels his dad hug him back, and really, he couldn't care less about how random this might seem to him.

To know that he's been gone for so long... To know that he had to go away so Haruka could come back. Haruka had to come back all along, so both could exist at some point. He had to come back all along to be Konoha's father.

Konoha breaks the hug to look at Haruka, _his other self_ , with a smile. Haruka looked back at him with confusion, since it was odd of Konoha to show this much affection. He doesn't even hug his mommy that much and she's his absolute favourite person in the world, so Konoha understood his father's feelings right now.

Even so, Konoha just pats his dad in the arm before properly breaking apart, "I love you, dad."

Haruka blinks in surprise, not managing to mask the confusion with a smile this time, "Oh! Um, I – I love you too, son!"

He can't help giggling a little. Ah, he wonders if his dad will ever figure out who Konoha is. He then turns to his mommy, "And I love you too, mommy!"

Takane, also confused, nods, "Eh– yes, I love you too."

"And I love _you,_ big sis!"

Fuyuha's head pops up from the couch, bringing a hand to get one side of the headphones away from her ear, "Hm? What?"

Ignoring her, Konoha turns to his parents to flash another smile at them, "I'll go get dressed now. I love you all!"

And after repeating that, Konoha eagerly makes his way upstairs. He faintly hears his mommy asking "what's gotten into him?" to his dad, but Konoha only continues smiling to himself when he hears his father's answer.

"I'm not sure. I'm happy if he's happy, though."

**Author's Note:**

> This was a mess, but if you read it, oh Gosh. Please know that I adore you, haha. This is something I've been wanting to write for a while, and actually had no intentions of going through with but... Oh, well, things happen asdfkl.
> 
> Also, don't call me out on Konoha being out of character... he's certainly going to act different now that he's an actual human who has lived for twelve entire years, haha. Oh, an I'm tempted to write about the day Konoha brings a cockroach home and the tale of how Haruka loses his mind and Takane ends up murdering it. Should I?


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